What Do Marian Hossa, Henrik Zetterberg and Patrick Sharp Have in Common?

[UPDATE - Patrick Sharp Wedding]
THANKS to stoneyblue for this golden nugget!!  She found a church bullentin dated July 18th that lists "Abigail Banever and Patrick Sharp" under "Upcoming Weddings of Parishoners."

Yeah, they all won the Stanley Cup, but it has NOTHING to do with hockey ... they all got hitched quite recently this month!!

MARIAN HOSSA

Hossa's wedding was last Saturday (July 17th) in Trenčín, Slovakia to longtime girlfriend Janka (Jana) Ferová.  The ceremony and celebration was attended by 150 guests including NHL royalty (with their significant others) such as Pavol and Majko Demitra, Tomas and Mary Kopecky, Marian Gaborik and girlfriend Sono, Miroslav and Ingrid Satan, Martin Havlat and girlfriend Ivana, Zdeno and Tatiana Chara.  The menu consisted of salmon tartar, noodle soup, duck breast in honey sauce with mashed potatoes, strawberry sorbet, chanpagne with 14-carat gold flakes.  For more information and pictures / video, CLICK HERE, HERE, and HERE!

HENRIK ZETTERBERG

Zetterberg's wedding was this past Friday (July 23rd) in Skåne Mölle, Sweden (alot of what I've been reading says the wedding was Saturday, but the official Red Wings site has stated the wedding took place on Friday).  He married longtime girlfriend Emma Andersson (Swedish TV personality).  But the party started long before then with the 120 guests arriving earlier in the week.  The internet was completely bombarded with pictures of "Z" and his bride along with their guests outfitted in old-fashioned striped bathing suits - it was a pre-wedding party - CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO (the start of a "three-day wedding party" to be exact, according to the official Detroit Red Wings website!) with teammates Filippula, Lilja, Franzen, Kronwall, Ericsson, and Lidstrom in attendance to take part in the festivities (UM ... I gotta say it, Lidstrom ... YOW-ZA!)!!

MORE PICS of the couple's pre-wedding party HERE!!

The beautiful and lavish wedding was thanks to the couple's wedding coordinator, TangerDu.

BELOW: VIDEO of the couple (arriving and departing from the church) is below COURTESY OF EXPRESSEN (Extra) Magazine / TV from Sweden; photographer: Stefan Soderstrom.


 

PATRICK SHARP
Speculation is that Sharp's wedding was this past Saturday to college sweetheart, Abby Banever.  I use the word "speculation" because confirmation of this was HARD to come by ... no articles, no twitter, no FB with any word of it LET ALONE PICS of the [obviously very private] celebration.  The only certain thing is that the wedding was set for July according to an article philly.com posted this past June. 

Also in my search, I found the couple listed on the guest of another couple's wedding site [which I'm purposely NOT including a link to respect the couple's privacy] listed as "Mr. Patrick Sharp and Ms. Abigail Banever-Sharp." This makes it look like they are already married ... the odd thing is ... this couple's wedding took place on July 10th ... so could Sharpie and Abby be pulling a fast one with already being married before word got out to the public??  IDK, but be sure that when any further news breaks (pictures leak), it'll be here!!!

My Condolences

to the entire Cowher and Young families for the passing of Kaye Cowher, wife of former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher.

Yesterday, Kaye lost her battle with skin cancer; she was only 54.  She leaves behind her husband, Bill, along with three daughters, Meagan, Lauren, and Lindsay; and twin sister, Faye.  To learn more about the life of Mrs. Cowher, VISIT THE PPG which has a really nice article in today's paper.

My thoughts and prayers go out to her entire family at this difficult time (Steelers Nation / Pittsburgh mourns the loss with all of you!).

Fisherwood Wedding UNVEILED and MORE Honeymoon Pics!!

From what I'm reading, the July 26th issue of People Magazine is flying off the shelves today!!  But don't worry ... I've been scouring the internet to find pics for you including more of the cute couple on their honeymoon (THANKS TO the Weddings Unveiled blog, I found them!)!!  And of course they're BEAUTIFUL!!

The blog also reveals more details that were found in this edition of People Magazine:

• Carrie's tiara contained more than 40 carats of diamonds and was a gift from Mike!
• escort cards with guests names and table number were made from painted hockey pucks
• the ballroom was adorned with 5,000 crystals against pink lighting and the tables were dressed with toile linens and tuxedo folded napkins accented with crystals

Pics from Pens Development Camp (HOTTIES in the Making, FOR SURE!)

THANKS to loyal HftL reader, Lisa (and her mother-in-law), who attended yesterday's practice session at the Iceoplex in Southpointe I'm able to post some really great pics her MIL took!!

Lisa also made sure to tell me for us to get a good look at Patrick Killeen who appears to be a "hottie in the making" and, as Lisa describes, has "a smile to melt any girls heart." Making my own observation, take notice that Beau has a thing going with his tongue (sorta like Sid and TK) ... even better fit than I originally thought! ; P

"i totally was awestruck by some of these guys yesterday [Wednesday]. the pens sure know how to pick them. and despres defense is really coming along well. i totally made a follower out of sue my mother in law. she cant wait till the iceoplex practices this seaon and neither can i ..."

"... if you need any other info just let me know anyway i can help."

ENJOY, ladies (and THANKS again, Lisa and Lisa's MIL!)!!

"oh i have hottie to look out for patrick killeen? a goaltender and is gorgeous someone said he played for brampton. oh they were doing some drills and the new draftee reid mcneil got hurt he got smashed on the knee. when someone landed on him. he went back out and seemed fine. despres defintely looked bulked up."

Time to Play "Catch-Up"

NOT Sabrina, but I thought this was SO CUTE and pretty appropriate since my "blog backlog" is due to one of my very important poochies!! ; )

Well, without foreseeing the small family emergency we had with our little doggie Sabrina last week, I had a couple of posts planned throughout these weeks (NOT TO MENTION its been a couple weeks of suspense about the continuation of our "How I Became a [Female] Fan" story), but seeing as how the posts are "relevant to time" (meaning I don't want to post things that are "OLD news"), it looks like I'll have to take today (unfortunately forego "How Do I Love Thee [Sidney]?" post) and try to catch up on some really interesting stories I asked some readers to share with all of us.  And the female fan story is PRIORITY #1 for me today!! ; )

I hope its OK with all of you ... I promise that I'll try to find some way to make it up to you for skipping our usual Sid post today ... SOMEHOW (I'm hoping a really great idea / pic hits me when I least expect it) although I'm pretty sure by some of the general comments I've read from a few of you over HftL's existence that you're probably not too upset about it!! ; )

ENJOY ALL THE POSTS TODAY (probably a total of 4 including this one)!!

Where My Ladies At? (PART II)

THESE ARE OUR STORIES

(How I Became a [Female] Hockey Fan)!

My Tumultuous Love Affair with a Man Named Hockey (PART II)

this one was a little too long to do all in one post, so this is the continuation from the June 24th post!! ; )

[FINALLY ... CONT'D FROM JUNE 24TH!]

But as much as I hate to say it, during the lockout my interest waned, the flame that was once a roaring fire, was dying out, a year without hockey showed me other sports, like fencing, soccer, and basketball (go Lakers!), I also started high school and did girl things like go out with friends and experiment with hair color. (The lockout was a break in my relationship with hockey, so technically I wasn't cheating.) One day in 2006 did a lot for me as a hockey fan, I turned on the TV and 1 I was again exposed to hockey, 2 I saw the Youth Movement in Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal, 3 the changes made hockey seem like the sexy foreign exchange student who seemed so foreign, and 4 I saw a completely different side of the game with Alexander Ovechkin. It was like greeting an old friend you haven't seen in a while, familiar but different in a good way. It was safe to say the affair resumed. Hockey seemed so much more friendlier, but more exciting at the same time. There were players who were as old as my brother and suddenly the players didn't seem so scary (the Kariya incident as you can see scarred me somewhat). And that season it was in the cards for us to win.

The 2007-2008 season was rough, it was rough to see the Penguins lose to the Red Wings, it was rough to see the Ducks lose to the Stars, it was rough to see the Capitals (which was slowly inching its way to the top of the rankings and my group of favorite teams) lose to the Flyers. The torrid affair seemed to be coming to a close.

But last year, when Penguins won, I was at a restaurant with my family having a quiet dinner. My friend had been texting me the scores but I hadn't been reading them because I knew the anxiety would near kill me. But I knew that the game would be ending soon, so I quietly snuck off into the bathroom. When I read the text with the final score 2-1, I was jumping up and down, screaming. The team with players that were my brother's age, that seemed so approachable defeated the team that beat my team and had players that were as old as my mother. At that moment, my love affair with hockey was rekindled.

While my relationship with hockey has been on and off over the past few years, I find myself still having a hard time restraining myself when watching the Ducks, or any other team for that matter. I find myself often proving to other hockey fans, that I'm not another puck bunny lusting after Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal, Alexander Ovechkin (How can you not love his gap tooth grin?), or Max Talbot (although on occasion I have indulged). But often, I find myself in The Pond where the affair all started.

- Brianna G.

THANKS, Brianna, for sharing such an AWESOME story (quite a story at that) ... again, I apologize for keeping everyone in suspense by not posting the second part until today!! ; )

Don't forget, if you wish to submit your story, I kindly ask that you email them directly to me so they don't end up being repetitive for some of the readers. Also, if you don't want me to include your name, please let me know that as well (what I'll normally do is put your first name and last initial if I have it OR just your screen name).

FEEL FREE TO INCLUDE A PICTURE!!

I also want to let you know I LOVE these stories (and so do alot of our readers) - I've always found it interesting no matter who the fan, so I'm enjoying ALL OF THIS IMMENSELY!! KEEP THEM COMING, but I ask that you email them please - THANKS!!!

Also, I ask that you please BE PATIENT as I'm still receiving TONS of stories (they'll be posted in the order I received them, to be fair). If you sent in a story, it will eventually be on the blog - I promise!! ; ) JUST BE SURE TO KEEP THEM COMING (the more the better!)!! AS A NOTE, I'm currently on stories I received back in December 2009 / January 2010!!!


thesteelcitysportsfan@gmail.com

If you haven't, you can READ MY STORY HERE
(how "yours truly" became a [female] hockey fan!)!!

HftL Coverage of Hockey's Future at the 2010 NHL Draft

THANKS to HftL reader, Meg, we are lucky enough to get some "inside scoop" on the recent NHL draft (not to mention some REALLY GREAT PICS!) which she attended (SO awesome!)!!!  Here's her rundown of the day and the prospects that were a part of it (as you'll read, Meg did an AMAZING job with this post and I may even have to consider recruiting her for reports on more of the WC hotties, to supplement the awesome stuff Kena already provides OF COURSE!!) ...

Los Angeles is full of good-looking men all year round, but the hotness quotient went WAY up this weekend when the 2010 NHL Entry Draft rolled into town. Staples Center was chock full of future NHL stars, and lucky girl that I am, I got a front row seat for some of the fun. During Round 1 on Friday, I had trouble keeping my head screwed on! Every direction I turned, there was another GREAT LOOKING GUY! But I was so busy walking around with my mouth hanging open that I couldn't pull out my camera fast enough.

I managed to fix that on Day 2, when I snagged a spot at the NHL Tweet-up right in the exit path of every player leaving the building! The only tough part was choosing which player to photo, since I had at least 2 people tugging on each arm and pointing someone else out to me. But here's a sampling of what the future holds for our favorite sport.

First up, LA Kings 2nd round pick Tyler Toffoli. Cute, but only average on the overall hotness scale of the day. But he's got time to develop a little more....

Then I got lucky and spotted the Montreal Canadiens first round pick Jarred Tinordi. Good lord, that's A LOT of hockey player! At 6' 6" and 205 lbs, his a little on the bean pole side of things, but he's got a great smile working for him. Give that frame a chance to fill out a little, and hang on ladies!

Our next prospect is the Minnesota Wild's Jason Zucker, from Las Vegas, Nevada. I'll gamble that he upped the Wild's hotness quotient at least a few degrees!

Hello New Jersey Devils! I have no idea who any of you are... but you can come play for me in LA anytime....

He's a little shy, but Calvin Pickard, a new goalie prospect with the Colorado Avalanche, is a sweetheart. Just work with me and smile next time, would ya, kid?

I finally found a Euro in the bunch! This is Martin Marincin, drafted 45th overall. He's a 6’4”, 187 pound product of Kosice, Slovakia and sure to make the female Oilers fans just a little happier. OK, he's no Sheldon Souray, but give the kid time... I think we've got some great raw material to work with here.

This guy caught my eye right away, and I'm lucky because he's looking right back at me. Someone loves the camera, and rightly so! Another Habs hottie, I'm pretty sure this is defenceman Morgan Ellis. I almost dropped my camera when I caught him giving me the eye, so my notes could be wrong. Either way...HOT!

Although Mr. Tampa Bay Lightning here was my favorite hottie of the day. Leave it to Stevie Y. to make his team even better looking! Someone get me name...and a number if you can!

The future of hockey looks good, indeed

HftL Coverage of the 2010 NHL Awards in Las Vegas, Baby!!

THANKS to another one of our awesome readers, Stacie, we were able to get the lowdown on this year's NHL Awards along with some incredible pics too (she did just an all-around AWESOME JOB of recapping the show and her trip to Vegas!)!! 

My 2010 NHL Awards experience kicked off, very appropriately, at the Palms Hotel on Monday night. The entire hotel was decked out in honor of the awards with giant portraits of players at the valet area, the front desk, the casino, all the way out to the pools. From 5pm until noon the next day, all of the trophies to be given out at the awards show were on display in the lobby, with the Stanley Cup in the center. Fans gathered all night to take pictures with the awards, and one guy even convinced a security guard to pose as if he was trying to steal the Stanley Cup--a perfect mixture of awe and silliness.

The next night, I headed to Lavo night club at the Palazzo, where Alex Ovechkin and Jeremy Roenick hosted a pre-awards party on Tuesday night. They posed for pictures outside Lavo around 10, then left and came back at 11 when the club opened. Roenick showed up fairly early and took pictures with fans before the club got crowded. Ovechkin appeared shortly after, sporting his signature red t-shirt and jeans, followed by a bunch of friends and players. I didn't see anyone else talking with fans, but I left as soon as club security started clearing people away from the VIP area around 12:30.

The awards show on Wednesday night started off with a producer explaining that Snoop Dogg had taped his performance the night before, but that he wanted the audience to cheer and pretend it was actually live. I had hope for Jay Mohr, but leading with a "special people" joke was rather distasteful. The show went on pretty smoothly, with only two speeches getting cut off. Ovechkin stayed around to finish his, however, Duncan Keith not only got interrupted for a video, but someone actually took the microphone away from him!

I thought it was adorable that Sidney brought his parents to the show! I didn't see him at the pool party after the awards show, but plenty of players, fans and NHL supporters showed up for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. The Stanley Cup had a special place on an island in the middle of the pool so that everyone could admire it. Tons of people showed up for the party, from Miss Nevada to Sean Astin (a hockey fan, I suppose?) to our very own coach, Dan Bylsma, who very kindly chatted and took pictures with fans.

Overall, I had a great time attending the NHL Awards and the many celebrations surrounding it. I hope to be there again next year!

Western Conference Hottie: Jonas Hiller (Anaheim Ducks)

IMPORTANT HOCKEY STUFF: Signed a two-year contract extension running through the 2009-10 NHL season, June 11, 2008…2007-08: Made his NHL debut with Anaheim, going 10-7-1 with a 2.06 GAA and .927 SV%...owned the second-best GAA (1.55) and SV% (.952) in the NHL after Mar. 1, posting a 4-3-0 record…won five straight at Honda Center from Dec. 19-Mar. 26, recorded a 1.40 GAA and .945 SV%…stopped a then career-high 41-of-43 shots, Mar. 21 @ SJ…record his first career NHL point (assist) in a 4-1 win, Mar. 12 vs. VAN…stopped 11-of-12 shots for his first career OT win, Dec. 19 vs. COL…recalled from Portland on Nov. 16...originally assigned to the Pirates on Oct. 23…earned a 4-1 win in his NHL debut, Sept. 30 vs. LA in London, England...stopped 22-of-23 shots en route to being named the third star of the game...became just the fourth Swiss goalie to play in an NHL game, joining David Aebischer (COL), Martin Gerber (ANA) and Pauli Jaks (LA)…with Portland: earned a 3-2-1 record with a 2.11 GAA and .929 SV%...following the 2008 NHL Playoffs, joined Switzerland for the 2008 IIHF World Championship in Halifax and Quebec City…appeared in three games, going 1-2-0 with a 2.79 GAA and .915 SV%...2006-07: Played for Davos of the Swiss National League A…set a career high in wins, posting a 28-16-0 record in 44 appearances with a 2.60 GAA…was voted Best Goalie in the Swiss National League…ranked tied for first in the Swiss League in wins during the regular season and first in wins during the playoffs (12)…helped Davos capture the Swiss championship…in addition, helped Davos to a Spengler Cup championship…was the starting goaltender for the Swiss

National Team at the 2007 IIHF World Championship from Apr. 27-May 13 in Moscow, Russia…appeared in six games, posting a 2.51 GAA and .910 SV%, finishing fifth among goaltenders in SV%...2005-06: Helped Davos advance to the final in the Swiss Championship…was selected to the All-Star team for the Spengler Cup and was a member of the Swiss National Team for the IIHF World Championships…2004-05: Was voted the Best Goalie in the Swiss League, en route to the Swiss League Championship…won the Spengler Cup with Davos and selected to the tournament All-Star team.

REALLY IMPORTANT STUFF: Spends the offseason in the town of Davos in his native Switzerland…resides in Newport Beach during the hockey season…enjoys playing tennis, beach volleyball [shirtless] and sailing [also a shirtless opportunity] on his family’s boat in Switzerland [I hear the summer is beautiful there, warm and comfortable, inviting men to go around shirtless] during the offseason…is an automobile enthusiast and spends his summers fixing cars with his friends at a local body shop in his hometown…enjoys cooking traditional Swiss food, [yes, a man that can cook] with his specialty being fondue [OMG, and a man that can cook
with fire, can you say “cave man”? now, let’s see what other “cave man talents” he has]…lists his favorite food as Italian…admires fellow Swiss athlete Roger Federer…can speak German, English and French fluently…is a big fan of rock music, enjoying the likes of Metallica and Nickelback.

Hiller's Olympic Blog

DON'T FORGET, LADIES, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUBMIT A SUGGESTION, YOU CAN DO SO HERE at our "HftL Suggestion Box!" OR email HftL at thesteelcitysportsfan@gmail.com!!